One week: check - Part 1

Whew! Lots to cover! I'll work on Marlo's birth story later - this post will cover her first week. And also Christmas. Needless to say, her first week was a busy one.

We got home Sunday afternoon. My Mom was here with Kasper so I was able to hand Marlo off to her and get in a long nap before tackling the first evening with 2 kids. It was a little difficult getting Kasper off to bed but we managed and settled into our first evening with a newborn. Marlo and I focused mostly on nursing. She was ravenous, my milk was not yet in. Good thing she's cute.



Lunchmouth


The first night was a long one. Rob went to bed in our room while I stayed out in the living room with Marlo. No sense in having 2 sleepy parents when there's a toddler to entertain. I think I nursed M for 3 hours while I watched Home Alone on tv. She was SO hungry and just couldn't quite get enough milk. Eventually we laid down and she slept on my chest for a couple hours. I remember the first night with Kasper as being one of the worst so this wasn't so bad!

Monday morning Rob got up with Kasper and got him all ready for school. We decided to send him for his sake. I'm quite sure he enjoyed playing with friends more than being home with us as we figure out our new normal. Marlo spent the day mostly hungry. She doesn't have a 50%. Either she's content or she's MAD.













We opened presents Monday evening with our little family.

Kasper's "say cheese!" face. A little terrifying.





Monday night was pretty bad. My milk still hadn't come in and it turned out to be the last straw for Marlo. She would NOT stop screaming - wouldn't nurse, wouldn't settle. Rob finally ran out to Walgreens for formula at midnight. We never gave Kasper formula but it was clear Marlo needed something more to eat. It was such a terrible night. I was sobbing and feeling guilty for not being able to feed my baby. When Rob got home I was pumping and sobbing that I had nothing and I had failed Marlo. We gave her the formula - she drank about 3/4 oz and stopped crying. She was just looking around and was so content. That just made me feel worse. I was starving her! Ugh. I hate even thinking about it.

Tuesday morning was spent getting things together for Christmas up in St. Cloud. We also had a home health nurse appt at 9:30. Because Marlo had some jaundice, they wanted to get someone out to the house in our first couple days home.


The nurse came and checked out both Marlo and me. The jaundice wasn't spreading very fast, so she didn't do a blood test. Everything else looked great! Marlo was born at 8 lbs 1 oz. She left the hospital and 7 lbs 9 oz. On Tuesday she was 7 lbs 7.5 ozs. She is a very healthy eater. I talked to her about our nursing issue and she was very sympathetic and reassuring. She watched us nurse and complimented Marlo on her latch. My milk was barely starting to come in so she was able to do some good drinking.

While we were having our check-up, Kasper was in the sunroom watching Cars. Or so we thought. He found a pot of my lip gloss, dug most of it out and spread it all over his face.


We ripped open our stockings before heading out.




We got to St. Cloud around lunchtime. Marlo did awesome in the car and slept the entire time.

My family celebrates Christmas Eve so we did our thing that day. I was able to get a nice nap in before dinner so that was awesome. It was a little difficult to be trying to get into a sort of routine when we weren't at home, but on the other hand, it was so nice to have so much support and people that would watch the kids so we could get some rest. We had a great dinner and opened some gifts before deciding to send Kasper off to bed. He was getting a little manic with the gift opening. I also had to take breaks to feed Marlo. Speaking of Marlo…


My little Christmas baby. My Mom made the bow. How adorable, right??

Tuesday night was a little better than Monday but Marlo was still up hungry a lot of the night. I nursed her forever, gave her some pumped milk and eventually finished her off with some formula. She eventually slept 3 hours. Here we are Christmas morning. This is life right now.


On Christmas morning, I tried to get a picture of the kids in the Santa hats I knitted. Fail.


Rob and Kasper went over to Grandma Sandra's house for Christmas breakfast while Marlo and I stayed behind. We spent Christmas Day lounging and getting caught up on sleep. By Christmas Day, my milk was FINALLY in and nursing got much easier. We didn't have to spend 30 minutes and many side changes each time anymore.







Before dinner, while I took my nap, Rob, Tim and Kasper went sledding in the backyard.



Wednesday was a good night. Marlo and I went to bed early while everyone else stayed up playing a game. We were sleepy. I tried the rock and play but it just became me repeatedly putting the paci back in her mouth while she looked around.


Eventually Rob came to bed and took over the paci placement. He ended up taking her out to the couch which allowed me about 5 hours of sleep! After a quick nurse, she went back to sleep for another 3 hours. She finished her night on my chest which is where she has done all of her sleeping so far in her life. I didn't co-sleep with Kasper but it somehow happened with Marlo. One of these days I'll get her in her own bed but for now, this is what works.

(Rob took these basically in the dark)

Marlo slept so long - after 8 am!! - I had to put her down so I could get up and go to the bathroom.


Ok… turns out this was a super busy week and I'm going to have to split this post into 2. Check back for Marlo's first week, part 2!